1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to mobile telephone communications, and more specifically, to mobile voice communications for improving communications using conferencing, Internet, and cellular technology and for recognizing when a party to a call has been disconnected.
2. Description of the Related Art
During mobile voice communications, various problems and difficulties may occur which can interrupt or delay communication. For example, in cellular (xe2x80x9ccellxe2x80x9d) phone services, cell phone coverage and service delivery may be intermittent and varied due to the large number of cellular telephone companies providing service.
Further, air-time charges are expensive, and at times it is difficult to hear certain cell phone callers. Moreover, many cellular telephone handsets do not feature headset jacks, thereby making some communications inconvenient.
Moreover, cellular phone coverage is nonexistent inside many office buildings and cell phone service is often interrupted during calls due to building obstructions, terrain, etc. Cell phone drop-offs (or faulty xe2x80x9chand-offsxe2x80x9d) are annoying, particularly because parties may not be notified of a failing connection. When a connection is broken, time is required to reestablish the flow of conversation because the party talking is unaware at which instant the signal failed.
Reestablishing a phone connection can also be awkward. Telephones typically remain busy for some period after a call fails (e.g., the parties typically remain on the line hoping the service interruption ends and it is unclear as to who (e.g., calling party or called party) should be actively reestablishing the connection). Moreover, there is a likelihood that reluctant participants to a mobile telephone call are unavailable for further communication in the event a calling connection fails.
With regard to Internet phones, the phone service does not normally ring (e.g., activate an audio alarm), and therefore the Internet telephone requires the establishment of an appointed time for communicating.
Furthermore, Internet phone service is jittery because of the inherent nature of a loaded packet switched network and, as a result, the phone service is unreliable. Internet phone service also can be interrupted during a call and reestablishment is unwieldy because of busy signals and a lack of established etiquette.
A further difficulty arises with the modem being used, as business people often have many different phone lines with different numbers, making it difficult to remember and select the correct number.
Further, in regards to land-line phone service, voice terminals are often incompatible and without a call-waiting feature, must be off in order to ring.
The above problems are exacerbated in a conferencing environment where there are a plurality of participants, and frustration arises and time is wasted when a conferencing operation fails and faulty reestablishment of the connections occur. Further, conventional systems involve high costs and offer no backup connections.
In view of the foregoing and other problems, disadvantages, and drawbacks of the conventional methods and structures, an object of the present invention is to provide a method and structure in which existing wireless (e.g., Internet and cellular technologies) and land-line service connections can more easily and reliably be linked in a conference call.
A further object of the invention is to provide a system for improving the availability and reliability of mobile voice service using cellular, conferencing, and Internet technologies. The object is to allow for a smooth transition to an environment where phones are replaced by voice-activated Internet-based solutions.
In a first aspect of the present invention, a system for linking wireless and land line communications media includes means for connecting a communications medium to a second communications medium and means for alerting a user of the state of a connection.
With the present invention, a mobile voice communication system is configured so that persistent, polite (e.g., electronic voice messaging, such as, xe2x80x9cI""m sorry, Mr. X has temporarily dropped off the call. Let me try to reestablish it.xe2x80x9d) phone calls become available with a much richer tradeoff space for cost and quality, and much higher maximum quality.
The invention recognizes that some Internet Service Providers (ISPs) are more loaded than other, and that some ISPs have fewer hops to the destination than others. Thus, preferably, the invention uses multiple ISPs to improve Internet telephone service, providing a smooth path (e.g., a path with a low chance of failure and low jitter because it is less loaded and needs fewer hops to the destination) while using voice over Internet Protocol (IP) with improved quality of service guaranteed during transition (e.g., voice from land-to-Internet and wireless (cellular)-to-Internet, similarly to a cellular phone handoff) enabling substitution of wireless bandwidth and land-line circuits.
The invention preferably uses a handset with a 10BaseT (e.g., currently standard for computer phone calls in a work environment), Ethernet(copyright) port via Dynamic Host Communication Protocol (DHCP), various wireless protocols (e.g., such as those for various cordless telephones, GSM, CDMA 1900 MHZ 3G, blue tooth, radio, sonar, laser, optical, etc.), and a universal telephone port to connect to an audio conference room. Diverse cost structures (e.g., from zero connect charges to several simultaneous wireless/satellite sessions) and service levels are supported by the present invention.
According to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, when a communication link is broken, a new link is initiated. The connected party remains connected to a persistent xe2x80x9cvirtualxe2x80x9d conference room while the severed communication link gets reestablished. Preferably, the connected party is connected to the xe2x80x9cconference roomxe2x80x9d via more than one link so that one link acts as a primary and another link acts as a secondary/standby link. Thus, with the invention, existing wireless and land line connections can participate in a conference including multiple cellular phones using different protocols.